Further News and Updates

Because this is as much as I’ve got in me these days.

1. The Premier League season is over now and I got to watch two good games this weekend – one where Luton Town got promoted up to the Premier League, which is impressive since they were playing non-league soccer a decade ago, and one where Everton managed to stay in the Premier League and not get relegated out of top-flight soccer where they have played since 1954. If you enjoy soccer, this is about as good a pair of games as it gets.

2. Premier League refs all have this one little gesture that I just love. When a player goes down in an attempt to draw a foul and the ref is having none of it, they just turn their back on the player, stick out their arm, and wave their hand like, “Get up, get up, nobody’s buying it.” They need that in American sports.

3. Honestly, they also need relegation in American sports. It would make the end of the season a lot more interesting in all of the major sports leagues that play in the US.

4. So it looks like the GOP has successfully blackmailed the federal government into approving some of its unpopular, cruel, and draconian policies – policies they can’t actually get approved by legitimate democratic means because not even their own howling mob supports them – in return for them not destroying the world economy. Seriously, these people need to be rounded up and dropped onto a large island where they can go Galt by themselves and not damage the civilized world.

5. First person who chimes in with “but this is a republic, not a democracy!” gets the coveted “So What?” Award, given sporadically to the person with the least relevant take on an issue of public importance. I know more about that distinction than you do, son,* and your attempt to lord your undeserved privilege over the rights of the majority of American citizens has been noted and given precisely the amount of respect that it deserves. You will note this did not take long. Go away and let the grown-ups talk.

*Yes, it’s always a guy – almost always a white guy – and also usually someone who thinks libertarianism makes sense as a form of social organization instead of it being the toddler’s view of society that it is, which they fervently believe even though it is absolutely incompatible with the very idea of a republic. Call me a cynic if you will, but having had this conversation more times than an adult should be required to have it I dare anyone to contradict me.

6. We went out to breakfast this morning with a bunch of friends at one of the diners here in Our Little Town. We did this after the wedding we all went to in April, a two and a half hour drive away, and it occurred to us then that we didn’t have to travel so far to do it again. We had a lovely time.

7. While we were waiting for our food I looked out the window and there in the parking lot was an explicitly Christian biker gang in full leathers leaving after their early-bird breakfast specials. Have you ever seen something and thought, “This is radically American”? The only way this could have been more American would be if they had been armed.

8. Despite the fact that it is now technically summer as far as the university is concerned, I am still hearing from students. This is a good thing.

9. The oat biscuits turned out okay but not very structurally sound. I will need further experimentation.

10. We lost one of Lauren’s hens today – the big Buff Orpington that has been with us for a few years. On the flip side, we seem to have adopted a stray hen from elsewhere in our friend’s barn – she has been accepted by our flock and is getting on nicely with them – so our net chicken stats remain constant.